There are four words to describe this torture fest: The Run From Hell.

Everything started out fine this morning. I woke up easily, drank some coffee and had my usual banana with peanut butter, and was out the door by 6:15. I also checked the weather and it looked fine. Cloudy, 68 degrees, 80% humidity. I have done a long run in much worse.

The first 5 or so miles were great, but then the rain came. It was honestly the worst rain I have ever ran through. It was bordering on miserable. At first I thought it would be ok; it would be one of those quick downpours and it would be sunny again in 10 minutes. WRONG. It rained like this for the next 10 miles and I actually thought about calling it a day around 10 miles. Being the man and idiot that I am, I sucked it up and finished. I actually had a UA policeman pull up to me at mile 7 and asked me if I needed a ride. I told him that I still had another 13 miles and he looked at me like I was from Mars.

I didn’t really mind the rain; it actually felt kind of good. The worst part was that my feet were completely soaked. I could feel the water in my shoes and socks for the next 15 miles. It actually made my shoes feel heavy and I felt like a slug! I also had to listen to my shoes squish and squash which drove me insane. I haven’t been running with my iPod lately so I didn’t really have a choice.

I am done complaining now. Other than the rain, the last few miles weren’t that bad. Once I got it in my head that I was going to finish the run no matter what, I kind of enjoyed myself. I got that point around mile 12 and I knew the finish was in sight. I honestly just wanted to get this long run over with so I didn’t have to worry about getting it in tomorrow.

Mission accomplished and another long run is in the books. One more 20 miler left until Chicago!

Guess what is going down tonight?

ROLL TIDE!

Instead of going to a BBQ tonight, I am working a game watching party at the pool. Someone rented out the building and my boss needs people to help out and supervise the party. I am getting overtime pay, free food and beer, and some of my buddies from work are working as well. I also get to watch the game. The job is going to be pretty easy; we are basically there just to make sure the guests don’t mess anything up, clean up, and lock the building. Easiest money I will ever make.

I am so excited to have a three day weekend. This week has been jam packed! My life right now is basically running, school, work, and studying. I need some party time!

I did get a run in today though…

Friday Easy Run

Time: 1:21:05

Distance: 10.2 miles

Average Pace: 7:57 per mile

Today was a tough one. I felt pretty sore, slow, and actually slightly unmotivated. Pretty funny how that goes because yesterday I was telling you guys that I am always motivated. Sometimes we just have one of those days right? Actually, once I got going, I felt alright. I think it was just because it was Friday, I wanted class to be over with, and my body is shot from a long week. I am ready for some R & R this weekend. After my long run of course!

Nothing too exciting about this run. I pretty much just plodded along at an easy pace. I tried to make it as easy as possible in preparation for tomorrows 20 miler. I usually run long on Sundays, but I was invited to a BBQ on Saturday night and I don’t want to have to run 20 miles in the morning. Like I stated yesterday, my schedule is 100% flexible.

Once thing that sort of pissed me off today was a train. It was going really slow, but a little too fast for me to attempt to hop over. I only had about a mile and a half back to my apartment, but I was stuck. It is about a two mile detour and I was actually kind of pressed for time to get to my first class. I could have gone around, but I knew the train would pass the second I turned to go around it. I was stuck there for about 10 minutes and finally it passed. I really stiffened up in that 10 minutes! The last mile and a half was a shuffle!

What is everyone doing this weekend for Labor Day? I was going to go home, but the plans kind of fell through because I got dragged into work. Boo!

If I have time tomorrow, I may attempt to purchase my own domain, so my blog may be down this weekend if I have trouble with it. I am pretty tech savvy, so I think I can figure it out. Just FYI!

Last weekend while my dad was here, he treated me to a new grill. I have a George Foreman, but it is not the same. You don’t get that “real grill taste” if you know what I mean.

Ever since I got my new grill, I have been wanting to make some burgers. I had a bison burger over the weekend, so I was in the mood for something different. I saw a recipe for salmon burgers that caught my eye. Salmon is actually my favorite fish, so I knew I was in for a treat.

After surfing around the internet some more, I settled on this recipe. I didn’t make the “green goddess sauce”.

1 pound wild salmon fillet, skinned

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, or scallion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, or canola oil

1. With a large chef’s knife, chop salmon using quick, even, straight-up-and-down motions (do not rock the knife through the fish or it will turn mushy) until you have a mass of roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer to large bowl and gently stir in onion (or scallion), cilantro, ginger, salt and pepper, being careful not to overmix. Divide the mixture into 4 patties, about 1 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours) before cooking.

2. Preheat grill for a few minutes, then cook the burgers for 3-5 minutes on each side, but be sure not to overcook. The last thing you want in overcooked salmon. YUCK!

3. Serve them on whole wheat buns with plenty of ketchup!

I also made some delicious sweet potato fries to go with them. They are very simple to make. I basically just cut up a sweet potato, toss it with olive oil, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper and bake them for 300 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping halfway through. Sometimes I will change up the spices and use cinnamon, ect… The sky is the limit.

Her question of the week is: Whether training for a specific race or just running for the fun of it, we all experience the ups and downs of running. What do you do to get yourself motivated to run when it feels like it’s the last thing you want to do?

Haha funny question… If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have no problem finding motivation to run. I am probably one of those people that needs to find motivation to rest, but that is a different topic. Hopefully they will have that as a topic one week!

It is fairly easy for me to motivate myself to get out the door, but sometimes I have problems motivating myself to do specific workouts. I like to run based on how I am feeling that day, so training plans don’t really work with me, even though I am using one as a guide right now. A training plan does not know if my legs are going to be up for a tempo or track workout on a specific day. That is why I do not like them. Some people love to have a training plan, but I like to be flexible. I generally do my long runs on the weekend, but I often move around my other runs. As long as I am getting significant recovery runs and spacing things out well, I don’t see a problem.

However, sometimes I will wake up and the last thing I want to do is go to the track and run in circles like a chicken with it’s head cut off, but most of the time I do it anyways. The thing that gets me through those though workouts are the benefits and the post run high. Usually, once I get through a tough workout like that, I feel great and I know that it is making my body stronger. Sometimes I also feel like crap, but not as often. No pain, no gain.

My legs felt like complete led for about the first 8 miles. Sore sore sore. I blame yesterdays tempo run. My first couple miles were so slow that I don’t even want to look at my splits, but once I got warmed up I felt fine and sped up a little bit. I still find it funny that I am more sore before a run than after! Haha.

Funny story about this morning. I was about a mile in, and some kid stopped me and asked me to buy some chocolate for some kind of fundraiser or something. Take in mind that it is before 6 AM as this is happening and the kid couldn’t have been older than 12 years old. What kind of parents lets there kid out by himself at that hour to sell candy? Sometimes I just encounter the weirdest things while running. I probably would have bought some but I don’t take any money with me on my runs and I am not running around with candy for 14 miles. I actually wish I could have bought some because I started to get hungry around 11 or 12 miles. I probably should have eaten something before.

The run started out really well.. Perfect weather, tons of motivation, and very little soreness. Three things that make a good run for me. I actually ran a new route as well which is another plus!

My warm up was pretty standard; it took me a few minutes to get going and wake up as usual, but everything is feeling ok. I felt very strong during my tempo run and I actually whipped up on some ROTC kids. Most of them were actually walking while getting yelled and screamed at. I saw some push ups being done as well! Haha it was actually kind of funny… But, at least they are getting into shape.

Once I got past the ROTC kids, it was pretty much smooth sailing. I took some time to zone out, listen to some good music, and just enjoy the morning. My days lately have just been so hellish that my runs in the morning are some of the only “me time” that I get. I have to take advantage and enjoy myself. The weather has been helping with this.

Lacey asked me to define a “tempo run” in my own words. For me, tempo pace is actually a difficult pace to find. It is faster than normal running, but not quite 5k pace. There is not way I can hold that pace for anymore than a 5k; it is pretty much a sprint. For me, it is basically the fastest pace I can hold for around 40 minutes, so it is slightly slower than 10k pace. I probably ran this tempo too fast, but it felt good. It was hard and I was tired at the end, but I wasn’t racing. I’m not going to improve if I am not pushing myself.

Lacey also asked me another question… When am I the most sore?

Well, pretty much all the time! Haha. I usually wake up “stiff” but not really sore. I usually loosen up within about two miles and I am good to go. I tend to get sore later in the day after my body has had a chance to stiffen up since I run in the morning. That is the one good thing about running doubles; it keeps the blood flowing. I hope that helps Lacey!

My runs have been feeling much much easier these past week and I think it is because of the weather. It has been around 60-65 every morning and it feels AWESOME. Hopefully the hard work that I put in during the hot and humid summer will pay off. I am ready to speed up a bit!

Tuesday Easy Run

Time: 1:24:10

Distance: 10.86 miles

Average Pace: 7:45 per mile

Today was just a simple, easy base run. My legs and body were feeling good after yesterdays MP run, but I took it slow because I didn’t really want to push it. I am started to get paranoid and running and I do not like it one bit. I almost feel like I am imagining aches and pains. If something doesn’t feel 100% right, I freak out. I can’t even remember the last time that my legs didn’t have an ache. I think it just comes with running. Even a little twinge freaks me out. I think it is because of the upcoming marathon; I just need to tell myself to relax.

Here is my week at a glance:

Wednesday: Tempo Run

Thursday: Mid Week Long Run (14ish miles?)

Friday: Recovery Run

Saturday and Sunday: I will run 20 miles on one of these days but I am not sure which yet. I have a three day weekend so I have plenty of time. The other day will be an easy run.

Anyone have any fun plans for Labor Day? I was going to go home but I got roped into working a pool party on Saturday night!